how do you use mint

[pitterwoo]

I just got back on the Mint train. I had tried it years ago, but my main bank wasn't part of their system so I couldn't really use it. It seems to have a ton more features now too.

I'm just exploring setting up some savings goals and budgets now. I was excited to see how close I am to reaching my new kitchen goal since I stash money in a couple different places for that.

So tell me things that you use Mint for and how it works for you?

Also, do you do the net worth thing? I feel weird that they're including the total value of the house in our net worth since it isn't paid off. Maybe I can tweak that.

[SJ]

Your house should be included in your net worth (as an asset), but so should your mortgage (as a liability).

If your house is worth $250K but you owe $150K, it will increase your net worth by $100K (asset - liability)

I use mint for general tracking & budgeting and to update our master budget spreadsheet at the end of each month. I haven't used the Goals feature much at all.

[bliss]

I use it to track my spending. See where I'm going over, where I can trim, how my net income has changed.

I like the goals feature, sorta. It doesn't let you link more than one account to the goals so I can't really track how I'm doing. I have one account and it's already tied to one goal, even though my other goals use the same account. That's annoying.

I really like the charts. I can see which months are the most expensive for me as far as entertainment goes. Like August is always a busy month because of all the birthdays I have. Whereas March is a lot cheaper.

[pitterwoo]

Aug 6, 2012 12:45:57 GMT -5 SJ said:

Your house should be included in your net worth (as an asset), but so should your mortgage (as a liability).

yes, of course, that makes much more sense than just listing the value of the house! Know where to add the mortgage amount? Maybe I need to do the "take a tour" part.

[ReenaP]

We don't use the goals or budget feature of Mint. I use it mainly for the Trends reporting (how much we spend on various categories per month). Then I have a separate Excel sheet for our budget.

I also use it for the total Net Worth feature, though you can't be too confident in the Zillow home estimate.

[jenjen]

I have used the goals in the past when saving for a vacation or something.

I mostly just use it to keep track of our balances in one place. It's nice not to have to sign into 2 banks and 2 credit cards and other sites. I used to keep track for budgeting but we bought a fixer upper and cash flow a lot of the renos and it made me sad to keep track of that!

I agree with the PP - you should put the value of your house if your mortgage is also on mint. It will net the value less the outstanding mortgage = equity (or negative equity).

[pitterwoo]

Aug 6, 2012 12:52:56 GMT -5 bliss said:

I like the goals feature, sorta. It doesn't let you link more than one account to the goals so I can't really track how I'm doing. I have one account and it's already tied to one goal, even though my other goals use the same account. That's annoying.

It does let you link more than one account to a goal! I was pretty excited about that because I stash my kitchen money in 2 accounts and now I always have the current total in one place.

[mrssavy42112]

I use it mostly to see how much we’re spending in each category & see how we can bring those down. I like the budget tools & all of the pie charts. It can be really shocking to see just how much you’ve spent in a category.

[315bride]

Opening this post was a bit of a disappointment. I was all prepared to tell you about my mojitos.

[Roc A Bee]

I use it to see where we are spending money. I don't put in my retirement or even our loans.

[sapphireblue]

Aug 6, 2012 13:00:12 GMT -5 @315bride said:

Opening this post was a bit of a disappointment. I was all prepared to tell you about my mojitos.

LOL! :Y:

[pitterwoo]

sorry 315! I would be happy to hear about mint recipes, mint tea, mint chocolate chip ice cream or anything along those lines too. lol

[phunluvin82]

Aug 6, 2012 13:09:10 GMT -5 Roc A Bee said:

I use it to see where we are spending money. I don't put in my retirement or even our loans.

Same. I don't have our retirement accounts linked, therefore our net worth in mint isn't accurate...but that doesn't really bother me. I'm mainly using it for the budgeting/tracking. Like PP's mentioned, love the Trends section to see how much I spend over time, both overall and in specific categories. I can easily waste half an hour playing around in the Trends section!

[pitterwoo]

Thanks Vicmo I will do that